William Shakespeare (1564-1616)
Read Wikipedia's article about Shakespeare.
Listen to a 45 minute lecture about Shakespeare's London by Lars Kaaber (in Danish)
Let Shakespeare insult you using the Shakespearean Insulter.
Visit The Shakespeare Resource Center.
Watch In Search of Shakespeare (BBC) to get a sense of Shakespeare's world.
Listen to Pronouncing Shakespeare to get David Crystal's take on how Shakespeare sounded when pronounced by his contemporaries.
Use David Crystal's brilliant glossary to ease your understanding of the plays. It has been said that Shakespeare invented a lot of English words and phrases still in use.
Philip Weller's site Shakespeare Navigators has notes and help designed to accompany many of Shakespeare's plays.